108th Priddis & Millarville Fair 2015
























































































107th PRIDDIS & MILLARVILLE FAIR 2014

Determined competition and lots of fun in the "Old Nags" Stick Horse Race


Young ladies pore through the rodeo corrals to get to their spot for the stick horse races



Attention to detail is key in the sheep competitions



Pick me!!!



Waiting with the ribbons for best in show in sheep . . .



Help from dad . . . . .



Waiting their turn on the mechanical bull . . .



A clean miss in the pie-eating contest, one blind-folded eater, one blind-folded server of chocolate cream pie and one caller.



. . . . . to call it good, clean fun might be overstating things . . .



The winner!!!!



The petting zoo was fun



With lots of things to touch for everyone . . .



Judging the look-a-like horse competition was tough . . . .



There was show jumping . . . .



An early morning start



Judging in western horse . . .


A rooster-eyed view of the birds competition . . . .



The place you want to be . . . .



Lots of interest in best look alike dog competition 



Lots of things for kids to do . . . .



. . . . and cheer for . . . .



. . . . . and win . . . .



The World Rooster Crowing Championship was a tight contest.

The show and shine had some interesting displays . . .


Sewing and quilting  . . . .


The Sheep-To-Shawl demonstration



 . . . . or win ribbons and cash . . .

106th PRIDDIS & MILLARVILLE FAIR 2013

Tough competitors in Western Horse at the 106th Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair

Wow!! Look at that guy shear that sheep!!!

Best in class for Stick Horses!!

Working hard and somewhat inventively in the "Old Nag" division of the Stick Horse Races

A more conventional stick horse race

. . . . . but why are the adults the crazy ones!!!

The Fair has all kinds of fun!!

'Get back here!! I got a pile of sticky pie I want to shove in your face!!!" Intense competition in the pie-eating contest . . . .

. . . . . with a messy aftermath . . . .

Serious showing in Western Horse

The critical eye of the judge

Best in her division

The Pet Look-a-line competition drew some interesting entries

. . . . including Princess Leia and her Wookie

The Northwest Mounted Police were on hand for security

Tiger Girl and her favourite dad's head

Scary fun at the Petting Zoo

People crossing

Oops

Determined

How do horses make ice cream . . . . . with an old-fashioned treadmill. A popular old days treat on the prairies but only after a hail storm had delivered the necessary ice.

The popular auctions of quilts and pies brought in thousands of dollars. 

Everybody loves a parade . . . .

 . . . . . especially if it has old tractors 

The all important Fair ribbons, waiting for their owners

105th Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair 2012

Coveted Fair Ribbons

Waiting their turn for the "Look-A-Like" pet show competition . . . .

A reluctant goat

Open Wide!!! Pie eating contest!!

Pig anyone? The Petting Zoo is a big hit

The dressed up horse competition

Having fun on the mechanical bull

The Incredi-Pull!!!

Jumping high in the English Light Horse competition 

Big crowds . . .

A pep talk before the judging . . . .

The early moments of the Western Horse competitions

Waiting their turn . . . .

Counting ribbons

From Sheep To Shawl with Sheep Creek Weavers

Enticing your goat . . . .

. . . . . to enticing your duck

Old cars at the Show N' Shine 

Celebrating 105 years of history

 

Millarville Musical Ride leads the parade . . . .

Everyone loves a parade . . . .

Quilting competitions . . . .

Baking!!!

Rooster curiousity

Huzzah to the Fair chairman, Donna Kendall

THE 104TH ANNUAL PRIDDIS & MILLARVILLE FAIR 2011

A local celebrity arrives in style . . . . . . Reggie the Rooster, decked out in pink to support Wild Pink Yonder's trail ride for breast cancer research awareness, arrives at the Stampede Stage at the 104th Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair. Reggie is eight feet tall, 400 lbs and was one of three prizes the winning ticket in the Reggie The Rooster Raffle could have claimed . . . . . and the winner did just that. The elderly matriarch of a local farm family was unaware her husband had bought her a ticket in the spectacular raffle and was thusly more than surprised when MRAS President John Dakers telephoned her from the stage and asked if she wanted the Rooster, a 1978 Chevy 3/4 ton farm truck running on five year old gasoline, or, lastly, a $2,500 donation made to Wild Pink Yonder for her by MRAS. After a family conference while hundreds waited with bated breath, she announced she was taking the Rooster. The raffle proceeds will benefit the Millarville Racing & Agricultural Society, specifically programming and infrastructure improvements.

Speaking of roosters . . . . . . this young lady showed up well-prepared for the Rooster Crowing competition 

. . . . which was an intense one . . . . . .

. . . . and drew a big audience

 

. . . . . as did the messy pie-eating contest with a blindfolded eater, a blindfolded feeder and a "caller" shouting out instructions that were hopefully helpful . . . 

Lots of fun at Kids World . . . . .

. . . . . where the Calgary Stampede Incredi-Pull drew some heavy efforts . . . .

. . . . . a mother gives instructions on duck baby's at the Petting Zoo . . . .

. . . . . while another young lass acted instinctively . . . . .

Nelly and Shelly, the incredible ice-cream making horses, drew a big crowd . . . . .

, , , , , and their efforst were later served up to the expectant crowd . . . .

 

. . . . . the entries in the Fair were incredible . . . .

 . . . . and one lucky pie sold for $220 in a live auction later in the day . . . .

Longtime Fair volunteer and perennial winner Patty Webb is always organized. . . . .

Fibre Arts . . . .

Time for judging sheep . . . .

. . . . . where this crowd scene and the stables could have been at the first Fair 104 years ago as well 

The dog look-a-like competition . . . .

. . . . . or the dressed-up horse competition . . . . .arrrrrghhhh!!!

 

. . . . one of the bunny-hopper's gets some attention . . . .

 . . . . while this one was blazing through the course . . . . .

. . . . . in the Working Farm Truck Competition, no degradation was spared, including this calm and observant Jack Russel ready to protect his master's pretty much worthless truck . . . .

. . . . . . some came fully equipped, including this one with an old gopher trap and some low-hanging beer . . . .

. . . . . while bribes were not only expected (this was the winning truck). . . . 

  

. . . . . but also accepted by celebrity judge Terry Grant of "Mantracker" fame

A young cowgirl was up early for one of the Western Horse competitions . . . . .

    

. . . . . as were these ladies . . . . .

. . . . . while the English Riding competitions were also fine . . . . .

Wild Pink Yonder's "On Track To Beat Breast Cancer" fundraising/awareness walk, led by Trail Ride Boss Jane Hurl (centre) and supported by Heartland actress Amber Marshall, was another highlight

The Show N' Shine winners on parade . . . .

. . . . . . and it all got a hearty hurray of approval from enthusiastic Fair Chairman Donna Kendall, no doubt cheered by another record crowd on a perfect weather day . . . .

The 103rd Annual Priddis  & Millarville Fair 2010

An elegant lady rides an elegant side saddle at the 103rd Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair . . . .

. . . . . but that didn't mean everything about the Fair was elegant . . . 

. . . . . as the pie-eating contest ended very inelegantly . . . .

Desperately late, she frantically rushed into the infield for the Dressed-Up Horse competition and  . . . . 

. . . . . had a second place ribbon at the end of the day . . . .

When the clouds started to clear, it was time for the parade . . . . 

. . . . with plenty of waves to the crowd . . . . 

. . . . where the local 4-H Canine club were showing off their charges . . . 

. . . . and old tractors - some even painted - are the norm . . . 

The petting zoo was hugely popular with young and old alike, the only place where a little helper would hand a goose to an even smaller patron . . . 

The Pet Show was occasionally weirdly awesome . . . 

. . . . with everyone eager for their turn

Kid's World had mother's rolling their kids through all the fun  . . . .

. . . . with bounces at every turn . . . 

. . . . and squirts emerging . . . 

. . . . from the oddest places . . . 

There was a trumpeter calling for a rally  . . . .

One lifelong Fair exhibitor once described the county Fair as a place where young people learned not how to win, but rather how to lose with grace . . . . .

There was a big crowd for the Cow to Latte competition between a team from the television series Heartland and a team of local media. 

Amber Marshall, lead actress of Heartland was gung-ho for milking a cow with Cow To Latte organizor Paul Rishaug providing support Ms. Marshall is well-used to animals having worked as a veterinary assistant in the past.

. . . . . while the cow's rear-end riveted the attention of this little girl . . . . 

But it was the media team with Mike McLean, a ringer with a dairy cow, which ended up throttling Grandpa Jack (Shaun Johnston) and the Heartland team. Unexpectedly, Mr. Johnston admitted "I've milked many a cow in my day, just not in the last 20 years or so" who served as his team's runner while Mr. McLean, who served as the milker for the CHRB team, is a fifth generation rancher and manager of the Bar U Historic Ranch as well as a CHRB on-air personality. 

. . . . but all's well that ends well . . . . the miniature cow trophy will look good shared between CHRB in High River and the Okotoks Western Wheel. Left to right, Micheal Wienberg, executive producer, Heartland, Mike McLean of CHRB Radio in High River, Shaun Johnson, Grandpa Jack on Heartland, John Barlow, editor of the Western Wheel, Amber Marshall, Amy on Heartland and Jody Seeley of Sun Country radio in High River. 

He may have lost the day but the TV hunks always end up with the pretty girls in the end . . . .

Freshly sheared wool is set upon by these ladies, eager to turn it into product in only a few hours

Tongue hanging out in concentration, a young wrangler plots a precision swing, although oddly, considering his impending need for accuracy, spending much of his rope-swinging time looking directly into the eyes of the cameraman instead of at his target . . . . . 

. . . . while others took the time to sit and simply take it all in . . . 

. . . . and for hard-working volunteers like Candice Depass, organizor of "Kid's World," the start of the day was the beginning of the end of months of anxious preparation.

. . . . and no Fair is complete without an antique auto show . . . .

. . . . . or rooster winners . . . 

 . . . . or a quilt auction . . . 

. . . . while the exhibition barn overflowed with crafts, produce, grasses, chickens, ducks . . . .

. . . . and always those coveted ribbons  . . . . . . . 

. . . . . but the question riveting everyone's attention through to the final moments of the Fair was finally answered with a bang as Fair Chairman Bill Powell and Millaville Racing & Agricultural Society President John Dakers join Paul Teskey (centre) in astonishment as they realize the now legendary Millie The Massey's astonishingly successful raffle has been won by . . . .

 . . . . an ebullient Myrna McKay . . . . . or at least the name of the guy she wrote down on the ticket whom she has unlimited power over apparently. Myrna, acting as self-declared agent for the winner, quickly struck a deal donating Millie to "Heartland," where the 60 year-old rusting but still functional tractor will be used as a set prop for the internationally syndicated show, then donated back to the Fair. Several hundred people stayed until the end of the Fair to see the draw, an indication of Millie's appeal.

 . . . . and Capt. Riel Erickson, who started the year as a local heroine (a Millarville native) but was a local villian by mid-summer, finally got her chance to take a ride on Millie although ultimately denied the opportunity to personally use the rusting tractor for target practice by F-18 Hornets and other NATO fighters at the Air Weapons Range at CFB Cold Lake.  

\

. . . . and was back in the role of local heroine by the end of the day, filling in the gaps of her brief interlude on The Dark Side for local media Mike McLean and John Barlow. Capt. Erickson's gracious participation served as a catalyst in the Millie narrative,  eventually bringing about a remarkable revival of a grand agricultural Fair more than a century old that had been cancelled amid much controversy in March only to be revived by a new MRAS Board and Fair Committee. The Fair ended up with a record number of entries, more than doubled normal attendance and probably established a record profit, a stunning reversal of fortunes spanning only a few months in duration. Millie the Massey served as the unlikely rallying point for the community and her raffle raised $10,000, half of which went to the Alberta Farm Safety Centre and half to the Racing Society/Fair but, beyond that, the publicity generated by Millie was priceless. 

As such, few could deny the 2010 Priddis & Millarville Fair will be forever linked to Millie The Massey.

Millarville Fair 2007

Millarville Fair 2006

Millarville Fair 2006